The present invention relates to an end stopper for concealed fasteners, for cheking unintended disengagement of coupled fastener elements of concealed fasteners utilized for joining together rugs, carpets, covers applied over cushioning material of chairs, or the like.
With slide fasteners generally in use in clothes or like articles, the fastener is shut by slidably moving the associated slider, which is then retained at one end portion of the coupled elements. However, with fasteners for use in joining together for example two carpet pieces, which are of a concealed type made externally invisible for aesthetical reasons, if the slider is left unremoved from the fastener after it is fastened, it protrudes and tends to impair the floor surface or form an obstacle to for example an article of furniture when it is to be moved. Also, the presence of a slider attached to the fastener makes the appearance of the joined carpet pieces impaired.
To avoid those difficulties, concealed fasteners of the type for use in connecting together carpets, covers or the like are generally devoid of a slider, and it therefore is required to apply an end stopper at the end portion of the fastener to prevent from occurring unintended disengagement of coupled fastener elements.
Conventionally, a stopper device of the sort under consideration has been known, which has such a structure in which two spaced clipping members are projected from a base member, and with such two clipping members, abutting portions (to be described) of two tapes of a fastener are clipped. In greater detail, this conventional stopper device is composed of coplanar base portion and two clipping portions formed substantially in a U-shape, and in use it only can nip the abutting portions of the fastener tapes with the two clipping members. Thus, if the stopper device is used in connection with a concealed fastener of a type including at its end portion a part devoid of coupling elements, depending on the length of such element-free part, the two clipping portions of the stopper device can clip only the abutting portions of the element-free end part of the fastener and cannot clip the tape end portion having coupling elements. Accordingly, when the fastener is subjected to bending at the terminal portion of the coupling elements, such conventional stopper device is easily prone to permit the engagement of elements to become released.